User blog:JohnnyOTGS/JohnnyTalk World~Britain's Tudor Banquets
Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of JohnnyTalk World. Today, we're going to take a bit of a trip to Great Britain to talk about the feasts (or banquets) during the Nation's "Tudor" period (which lasted from 1485 to 1603). Britain's "Tudor Feasts" were more than just about the feasts themselves, but also depending on the household, the family and even the quality of the food which demonstrated great wealth and influence among the British Tudors. These feasts would be held by most high class Tudors around twice a day (one at 10AM and another at 4PM) and they would have a wide variety of food (which would make up for around ⅓ of the Tudors' annual income spending) Meats Meat was the primary dish of Tudor Feasts. Apart from the meats mostly consumed today such as Chicken, Pork and Beef. Some Tudors would also eat "Game Meat" such as Wild Boar (called "Brawn") and would serve the Boar's head too. Seafood was also served at a Tudor Feast as well, ranging from all kinds of Fish (mostly Haddock and Cod, but sometimes also included Lobster too). Especially on what was known as "Fast Days" ordered by The Church of Britain (days like Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and during Lent) these feasts would serve seafood as the primary meat as regular meat was forbidden. Vegetables Now, it's commonly held misconception that British Tudors didn't eat vegetables. Most middle and high class Tudors grew their own produce and because of this the purchasing of Vegetables don't show up frequently in purchasing records. It was also at once believed that raw vegetables (and fruit) that weren't properly cooked would make them sick. Vegetables such as Cabbage and Onions were commonly used in Tudor feasts, but towards the end of the period, other vegetables such as Tomatoes, Potatoes and Peppers were also used. Bread Bread was also common in a Tudor feast and were served in every feast, in fact as many as 800 loaves of bread can be made. Though they were mostly cheaply made, but the high class Tudors (such as Royal Families) can afford to make some more finely made bread. Beverages Tudor feasts didn't serve water as (for the time) water wasn't very clean and often carried disease. Instead some finer beverages were served, the most common was Ale (due to it's low alcohol content), though sometimes (and mostly with High Class Tudors) Wine was also served, and such Tudors who serve wine can go around 300 barrels of wine a year. The High Class use metallic or jewel crested cups or Tankards, while those of the middle class would use mugs made out of wood. Desserts Pies were a common food in Tudor Feasts especially if Fruit was properly cooked. Some High Class Tudors would also serve Gelatins which are shaped into various birds or even castles. At least for the Royal Families, they would also serve special cookie-like foods (either Wafers or Biscuits) which were stamped with the Royal Seal would also be served, cracker-like desserts called Subtletese which were made of spunned sugar and Marzipan and like gelatins of the time were sculpted into models of castles, ships and even some animals. Proper Manners It is also in Britain's Tudor Period where proper table manners were used to show respect for not just the family but also to their guests. Such actions at the Tudor Feast table which was considered improper and rude were dirtying your hands in any way and that meant not picking your nose, or teeth or even blowing your nose with your bare hands, men were also refrained from scratching themselves. Putting the Bones back on certain kinds of meat was also considered rude, it was best to put it on the floor as well as passing gas or spitting the food out of your mouth. After a Tudor Feast, what is left over was given to those of the lo classes and even the poor who find it difficult to keep themselves fed and have more restrictive diets. Henry the 8th Tudor Feasts were also a famous image of British King Henry the 8th as he would use Tudor Feasts for his own Imperial Court. He would use these feats not just in public when welcoming guests to his castle or on special days, he would also find these feasts in private as well and would dine with his family. Because he was a king he would also have his chefs use some of the world's finest ingredients to make his meals and most of the meals would also be laced in silver or gold leaves to make them more presentable, such as using sugar from Cyprus as well as African and Asian Spices. Apart from the other meats mentioned earlier. Henry would also have birds such as Swans and Peacocks, ''and even something called a ''Cockenthrice (which is a front or the head of a pig sewn into the back or the tail of a Chicken). Henry also was fond of other jelly-like food (especially Marmalade). It is also known that Henry would spend (in his time and especially according to a record back in 1528) that he spent around 844£ on French Bordeaux (which adds up to 250,000£ in today's British Currency, or in US Dollars it's around $320,000) Though, not directly targeted at the Tudor Feasts, but the feasts which consisted of meat and the fact that Henry's Tudor Feasts can serve to the equivalent of around 5,000 Calories a day. But it was also one of the negative effects of his relatively poor diet. A precise diagnosis to the cause of his death is still unknown, and it's unlikely that a precise diagnosis will ever be determined, but historians are separated that he either had Type 2 Diabetes or High Blood Pressure. It also didn't help that he had a nearly total lack of exercise (which was caused by a leg injury that never fully healed). Want to know about some myths and facts about food and nutrition? Just click here. That is it for this edition of JohnnyTalk World. Don't foget to check out my Games and Movies wikis as well. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out. Category:Blog posts